Adult books set in Japan (17)


Find more books set in Japan by genre:
1.

Convenience Store Woman : A Novel by Sayaka Murata EN

Rating: 4 (103 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Meet Keiko. Keiko is 36 years old. She's never had a boyfriend, and she's been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years. Keiko's family wishes she'd get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won't get married. But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she's not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store... *Convenience Store Woman comes in three different colours; the colour you receive will be chosen at random*


3.

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A dark, satirical thriller by the bestselling Japanese author, following the perilous train ride of five highly motivated assassins--soon to be a major film from Sony Nanao, nicknamed Lady Bird--the self-proclaimed "unluckiest assassin in the world"--boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop. Unbeknownst to him, the deadly duo Tangerine and Lemon are also after the very same suitcase--and they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard. Satoshi, "the Prince," with the looks of an innocent schoolboy and the mind of a viciou... continue

4.

Revenge : Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Offers eleven interwoven macabre short stories that take an ominous look at grotesque characters, violent emotions, and murder.

5.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop : A Novel by Satoshi Yagisawa EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The wise and charming international bestseller and hit Japanese movie about a young woman who loses everything but finds herself--a tale of new beginnings, romantic and family relationships, and the comfort that can be found in books. Translated By Eric Ozawa Twenty-five-year-old Takako has enjoyed a relatively easy existence--until the day her charming boyfriend Kashikoi, the man she expected to wed, casually announces he's been cheating on her and is marrying the other woman. Suddenly, Takako's life is in freefall. She loses her job, her friends, and her acquaintances, and spirals into a dee... continue

6.

The Makioka Sisters : Vintage Classics Japanese Series by JUNICHIRO. TANIZAKI EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
'An exquisite novel about four sisters living though a turbulent decade...I'd put it in the 10 greatest books of the 20th century' David Mitchell 'A near-perfect novel' Hanya Yanagihara In the years leading up to the Second World War, four sisters live in dilapidated houses in Osaka and Ashiya, and each navigate their own complex, personal relationship to the fading lustre of the Makioka family name. Rich with breathtaking descriptions of ancient customs and an ever-changing natural world, Junichiro Tanizaki evokes in loving detail a long-lost way of life even as it withers under the harsh gla... continue

7.

A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe EN

Rating: 2 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
First pub. 1964. Author's most dramatic work, won him the prestigious Shincho Literary Prize. In the novel the narrator tells how he responds to the birth and problems posed by his handicapped child. Recipient of the 1994 Nobel prize.

8.

The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
The Woman in the Dunes, by celebrated writer and thinker Kobo Abe, combines the essence of myth, suspense and the existential novel. After missing the last bus home following a day trip to the seashore, an amateur entomologist is offered lodging for the night at the bottom of a vast sand pit. But when he attempts to leave the next morning, he quickly discovers that the locals have other plans. Held captive with seemingly no chance of escape, he is tasked with shoveling back the ever-advancing sand dunes that threaten to destroy the village. His only companion is an odd young woman. Together th... continue

9.

The Wild Geese by Ogai Mori EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
A story of unfulfilled love set against a background of social change.

10.

The Devil's Disciple by Shirō Hamao EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Two stories originally published in Japanese in 1929 in issues of Shinseinen.

11.

Skip·Beat!, (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1 : Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3 by Yoshiki Nakamura EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
When Kyoko’s heart is broken, she decides that revenge is a dish best served in the spotlight! Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he’s casting her out now that he’s famous enough! Kyoko won’t suffer in silence—she’s going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz! Kyoko’s broken heart keeps her from getting into her talent agency of choice. The eccentric president of the agency decides to give her a second chance, but it requires her to wear a bright pink uniform, put up with spoiled stars, and try to live up to the na... continue

12.

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro EN

Rating: 4 (5 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and author of the Booker Prize–winning novel The Remains of the Day Here is the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. In a novel where past and present confuse, she relives scenes of Japan's devastation in the wake of World War II.

13.

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
An ingenious classic Japanese murder mystery, set in post-war Tokyo and steeped in the illicit subculture of Yakuza tattoos 'Like voyeurs, we follow Takagi down the charred streets of bombed-out Tokyo to scenes of fastidiously executed decadence' New York Times Can you solve the mystery of the tattoo murder? Tokyo, 1947. At the first post-war meeting of the Edo Tattoo Society, Kinue Nomura reveals her full-body snake tattoo to rapturous applause. Days later she is gone. A dismembered corpse is discovered in the locked bathroom of her home, but her much-coveted body art is nowhere to be found. ... continue

14.

La mort en été by Yukio Mishima FR

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Dix nouvelles sont ici rassemblées. Elles reflètent tout à la fois la diversité des talents de Mishima - art du détail comme du développement thématique, art de la description comme de l'ellipse - et de la diversité des univers qu'il pénètre. Les hommes d'affaires et leurs épouses, les geishas, les gens du peuple, les acteurs du kabuki, le vieux prêtre du temple de Shiga et les soldats finissent par composer un Japon moderne en butte à ses traditions séculaires. Et tout est là : l'amour vénal, l'amour sublime et sacrilège ; la perversion des femmes et du monde de l'argent ; les superstitions e... continue

15.

Le pavillon d'or by Yukio Mishima FR

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Sans rien changer à sa pose parfaitement protocolaire, la femme, tout à coup, ouvrit le col de son kimono. Mon oreille percevait presque le crissement de la soie frottée par l'envers raide de la ceinture. Deux seins de neige apparurent. Je retins mon souffle. Elle prit dans ses mains l'une des blanches et opulentes mamelles et je crus voir qu'elle se mettait à la pétrir. L'officier, toujours agenouillé devant sa compagne, tendit la tasse d'un noir profond. Sans prétendre, l'avoir, à la lettre, vu, j'eus du moins la sensation nette, comme si cela se fût déroulé sous mes yeux, du lait blanc et t... continue

16.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto ES

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
El libro está dividido en tres partes; las dos primeras parecen formar parte de la novela corta, del título del libro. La tercera es el cuento Moonlight shadow. La novela presenta el encuentro de dos personajes (y un tercero siempre presente); ninguno es una persona "típica". El encuentro inicia una serie de hechos, que giran en torno al destino ya definido (con una sombra de muerte) y la riesgosa aventura de tomar decisiones. Muy buena. El cuento Moonlight shadow, se basa en la canción del Mike Oldfield, y la eleva al nivel de arte. A partir del arte de... continue

17.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Country: Asia / Japan flag Japan
Description:
Relates the experiences of two free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan.